Four programs with different entry points
Start with the row that matches your degree stage, then open the employer source. This is a comparison of published program information reviewed on September 16, 2026, not a list of vacancies confirmed open today. A program description can remain online after a particular office stops accepting applications.
| Program | Candidate stage or duration explicitly described | Application or work distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Analysis Group summer analyst | Generalist: rising seniors and first-year master’s students in relevant subjects | Separate health-care research track; résumé, cover letter and unofficial transcript |
| Cornerstone Research summer analyst | Eight-week summer experience; do not use its full-time graduate-year language as internship eligibility | Economic and financial consulting case teams; check the exact summer posting for degree dates |
| BRG summer associate | Eight weeks; completing junior undergraduate year or currently in a master’s program | Practice may be economic disputes, corporate finance or performance improvement |
| NERA summer internship | Final-year undergraduates and current master’s/PhD candidates | A case study may be part of selection; some positions request writing samples |
Analysis Group separates its generalist and health-care research tracks. BRG also spans more than economic disputes. Those differences are useful before applying: the employer name alone cannot tell you whether the assignment will resemble an economics research project, a transaction analysis, or operational improvement.
Read the work at the practice level
Choose two practices and translate their descriptions into questions you could investigate. For an economic-disputes team, ask what evidence would separate a price change caused by the disputed conduct from a price change caused by costs or demand. For a transaction-focused team, ask which historical earnings are likely to continue. These are our preparation prompts, not promises about your assignment.
Read the actual internship description for its research methods, customers and deliverables. Record whether it mentions data cleaning, financial analysis, econometrics, interviews, document review or presentations. A long list of methods on a firm's general website is not a list of required skills for every intern. Distinguish tasks you have already performed from methods you would need to learn.
Build a reusable evidence packet, then tailor it
Prepare an accurate résumé, a clean unofficial transcript and one short explanation of a quantitative project. Keep a writing sample available only where requested and where you have permission to share it. A transcript should identify your actual course history; do not rename introductory coursework to imply advanced training.
Tailor the cover letter around a practice question and a piece of evidence. For example, explain how you joined two inconsistent datasets, checked missing observations and changed your conclusion after a sensitivity test. That is more informative than saying you are analytical. Keep the example short enough that an interviewer can ask what you personally did and obtain a direct answer.
Track required and optional documents separately. Uploading an unsolicited long paper is not a substitute for the employer's required document, and a link in your résumé may not satisfy an attachment field.
Compare offices and timing without false precision
Create one row per program and office or requisition. Keep employer-stated opening dates, posting dates, application deadlines and your own target dates in separate columns. A personal target of Friday must never become a published employer deadline. Where a program uses rolling review, save the actual wording rather than translating it into an invented final date.
Location also changes the decision. Confirm where the internship is performed, whether you can attend its full dates and whether housing or travel support is stated. Do not borrow a benefit from a different country or full-time program. An attractive firm with an unresolved worksite or degree requirement belongs in a verification queue, not in the same category as a role you can confidently pursue.
Leave with three different kinds of next action
Select a small set of programs whose published requirements fit, a second set with one specific unanswered question, and a preparation task connected to the work. Do not treat every unknown as a rejection, but do not silently treat it as approval either.
For the first set, complete the required materials and follow the employer's current application route. For the uncertain set, send a narrow question quoting the ambiguous requirement. For preparation, complete a worked case and explain its limitations aloud. The goal is an application you can defend, not a spreadsheet containing every famous firm.
A comparison cannot establish acceptance probabilities, interview difficulty or a firm's future headcount. We have not inferred any of those from program descriptions. Recheck the exact source when you act, especially if you are using this resource after the review date.